POWERS, Hiram

American sculptor, born in Vermont, whose first attempt at going to Italy ended in New York in 1829 when the money ran out. By 1835 his bust of Andrew Jackson brought him fame and he received many commissions for busts for the rest of his life; he finally went to Italy in 1837 and never returned to the United States.

His status as an American Neoclassic sculptor was first established with his Fisher Boy (1841, Metropolitan Museum, New York) and great fame came with the Greek Slave (1844, Raby Castle, Staindrop, and several replicas). This nude girl represents a Greek Christian sold to lustful Turks, and coming at the time of the Greek War of Independence its sentimental eroticism was extremely popular. The statue toured America in 1847 and was a great success at the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851.